Felon Sentenced for Stockpiling Firearms and Attempting to Obstruct Justice

NORFOLK, Va. – A Suffolk man was sentenced today to more than eight years in prison for being a felon in possession of more than a dozen firearms and attempting to obstruct justice. 

According to court documents, Richard Allen Patterson, 47, a previously convicted felon, conspired with his wife to stockpile in their home at least 23 rifles, shotguns, and handguns and hundreds of rounds of ammunition. Once they learned that ATF was investigating them, they attempted to cover up their crimes by lying to federal authorities, tampering with witnesses, including their own teenage daughters, hiding evidence, and attempting to fabricate evidence to exonerate Patterson. One egregious obstruction example was when Patterson had his wife change the registered address of their business weeks after ATF executed a search warrant for the property and then moved to suppress the warrant because ATF included the “wrong” address in it.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. The Department of Justice reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of a renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime.

G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Thomas L. Chittum, III, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ (ATF) Washington Field Division, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Raymond A. Jackson. Assistant U.S. Attorney William B. Jackson prosecuted the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information is located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 2:17-cr-114.